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James Cameron planning to remake Cleopatra with Jolie and Pitt

October 16 2010, 1:01am, The Times

Angelina Jolie has said that she would be honoured to play the Egyptian rulerWarner Bros

It has all the ingredients of a Hollywood epic, with the Avatar director, James Cameron, planning to retell the story of Cleopatra — casting Angelina Jolie in the starring role and Brad Pitt as her lover Mark Antony.

The prospect of Cleopatra in 3-D is “tantalisingly close” according to Hollywood insiders, with Jolie keen to play the Egyptian ruler, perhaps most famously brought to the screen by Elizabeth Taylor in Joseph Mankiewicz’s 1963 classic.

Cameron, who made Avatar for $500 million, is reported to be in discussions with Sony Pictures to direct Cleopatra, with studio head Amy Pascal apparently keen to fast-track production after receiving a script by the screenwriter Brian Helgeland that was adapted from Stacy Schiff’s biography, Cleopatra: A Life.